Fire or smoke protection curtains are used to delay the spread of smoke and/or a fire. Fire or smoke protection curtains are often used to seal an opening in a wall in the event of a fire. Should a compressed air difference emerge between the front side and the reverse side of the fire protection element, the at least one guide track must exert a holding force. The reverse side is, for example, the wall side of the fire protection element. Hence the holding force counteracts an excessive bulging of the fire protection element.
It is known to guide the fire protection element in a slot in the guide track and to arrange piping on the edges of the fire protection element, which prevents the fire protection element from slipping out of the slot and which leads to the fire protection element bracing itself on the edges of the slot, thereby resulting in the exertion of the holding force. Crimped metal objects may also be used in place of piping.
The disadvantage of solutions of the prior art is that the guide tracks must be built to be comparatively large. This is particularly disadvantageous if the guide track must be fixed to the soffit as, in this case, the guide track must either be inserted into the soffit, which is labour-intensive, or the clear width of the opening is reduced.
FR 3 004 117 describes a fire or smoke protection curtain that is arranged in front of a door and that utilises a ballast strip on the footer of the fire protection element in order to pull the fire protection element down in front of the door in the event of a fire. The bottom bar and the fire protection element run in an S-shaped moulded guide track. A disadvantage of this type of fire or smoke protection curtain is that it can only be used with a structure that absorbs normal forces, such as a door, and it is not smoke-proof.
US 2014/0190097 describes a curtain for wind-tight closure which is designed in such a way that the curtain element slips out of the guide rails if a critical wind load is exceeded. A reaction such as this is unacceptable with a fire or smoke protection curtain as it contradicts its protective function.